3 Months, 3 Stone: Balls to the wall!

Howdy folks.


I'm really more making this thread to encourage myself, rather than for anyone to be interested or entertained at my spectacular efforts. I spend a lot of time on Boards, so figure my 'own' thread here will keep me in order.

My Info

Gender: Male
Sex: Now and then
Age: 28
Height: 5' 9.5" (half an inch counts!)
Weight: 19st, 1.5lbs
Legs: Intact
BMI: 38.6


Quick Backstory

So I've a holiday booked. A place I've been before, but this time it's more of a family outing. I've been overweight a while (entire life), with the exception of summer 2014 when I went all out, nWo style, and lost about 3 stone from jogging and walking (still overweight, but a good effort from myself).

Best I ever jogged was 5k, which I hope to do again.


Motivation

There's a rollercoaster where I'm heading (Port Aventura) that hates fat people. I carry a lot of my weight in my ass/thighs. This particular rollercoaster has a seat restraint that closes onto your lap, and if your thighs are too big it's the ever-embarrassing walk of shame as you're told to waddle away.

At 19st there's not a hope in hell of me getting onto it. at 16st, I'll be laughing (I'd say 17.5st is my cut off, based on having been there before and it being a very tight squeeze).


Deadline

So, my flight leaves on the 4th of October. Today is the 4th of July. Bang on 3 months. At 19st I reckon 16st will be a tough, but achievable target. I don't, however, think it leaves much room for error or a 'week off'.


Approach

Small bit of weight lifting, a bit of home-made interval cross training (think people call it 'tabata'?), up and down a lot of steps (there's a lot of steps at the Drogheda train station that make for a great workout area).

Mostly my efforts will be in trying to keep the diet clean, and getting out for walks each day, and trying to up my jogging efforts. I feel I should be able to get to 5k in the time I have. The diet will be the hardest part.


I'll sit down and make up a little workout schedule I will try to stick to, and make a diet journal. I won't post all the specifics here as I'd only bore myself (and anyone unfortunate enough to read it) to death.

Any improvement is an improvement, though.


How I feel about it all at the moment:





In the words of David Brent, 'A good idea, is a good idea forever'.

Atlantic Dawn

Limit eating time in a day to 10 hours from the time you first eat until your last food, so say if breakfast 10am then supper 8pm.

Sounds like an interesting concept. I'll try it out and see how I get on. It can be good to try things like that for, if nothing else, the novelty factor of trying something different/new out, in my experience.

So I weighed myself today (And altered the opening post as necessary). I'm actually 19st 1.5lbs, so slightly more than 3stone to lose to be where I want in the 3 months.


Got a fairly nice PM off Hanley earlier too, which was very polite, so hat's off to him.



Today I signed up for (and participated in) an exercise class I did before. It's a crossfit kinda place. Working out a very rough 'plan of action' for the coming week/s, with the aim being to try and get back into jogging, and throw in a dash of cycling here and there, too.

This week and next, I'm working erratic hours (and won't know the hours until the day before) but after that it'll be more consistent. For the next week my aim is simple enough and it's just to try and get to as many of those classes as I can, and try to get at least an hour of walking (with little bits of jogging.. perhaps couch to 5k kinda stuff mixed in) each day, or an hour on the bike.

If I can keep that going, with a minimalist diet, then I reckon, this day week, I should have a decent amount of weight off me.

Here's hoping anyway.


EDIT: Sorry, forgot to mention, I was embarrassingly out of shape in the exercise class. You the know the fat person in the exercise class that half-does the exercises, is always behind, sweats profusely and makes you feel better about yourself? Well that was me today. Haha.

So week one is over and done.
Weighed myself and in the first week I'm down 6.5lbs. Which I'm happy with.

So means my current weight is 18st 9 lbs meaning slightly over 2.5 stone to go. 'A good start is half the work' springs to mind.

Been out cycling, walking and very miniscule amount of jogging. Did one quick session in the home gym with bench pressing and deadlifting but will return to it soon again maybe 2 times a week. I'm also try to keep to the exercise classes.

All of this is of course simply to detract from the real issue I have; my terrible diet. Now my diet has been pretty decent this week but it's the area most likely to give trouble I'd say.

At the moment I'm still feeling quite pleased and don't feel like I'm slipping yet (though it's still just one week in so.. 'lots done, more to do', as a questionable political slogan once said.


(EDIT: Changed the weights there. Knew i had it wrong but was on the phone initially. All correct now! :P )

So that's week two done and dusted.
Weighed myself and this week I'm down 8lbs. Which I'm very happy with. Didn't think I'd get that kinda number.

Been taking long walks (2 hours or so) each day when possible (did 6 in the last 7 days), diet, which is mostly bread based I admit, is very minimal, and i'm not feeling hungry, whilst eating low calories (toasted ham and cheese sandwiches on low calorie bread with no butter, and making them 'open top' to cut down on the bread used, are tasty and very filling).


I've been drinking a lot of water, usually with a tiny droplet of a dilutable orange or blackcurrant juice in there for flavour, and I've been keeping up the crossfit classes in the morning times (an hour each day). I'm still doing some home gym workouts, mostly focusing on squatting, deadlifting, bench pressing, bicep curling and tricep pushdowns (using a lat tower attachment thingy on the bench i have).




I'm feeling very optimistic after this week being so good to me. More of the same for next week hopefully. I don't think I'll get the same kinda loss for next week, but I'll certainly be aiming for 3-4lbs off anyway. Hopedfully all will go well.


1st 0.5lbs down, 2st 1lbs to go!


How I feel now: :P

Tell me how

I'm slightly sceptical that 1 stone weight loss in 2 weeks is permanent as opposed to maybe a quick shift of water content but well done for the effort you're putting in.

Keep it up

I'm aware the first couple of weeks are always the easiest and see the most significant drops, but I can fit into pants now that I couldn't a fortnight ago, and I'm edging closer to my goal; so regardless of whether it's water weight, I'll happily take it.

I know the losses will slow down progressively as i get into the grit of actually burning off fat, which will of course be a tedious and tough period, but I'll keep just pushing myself a tad whilst I'm able.

I'm aiming to drop about 4 pound for next week. Whether that's achievable or not I don't know, but it's where I'm hoping to be.

Once next week rolls around, and once I get officially under the 18st mark (assuming I lose at least 2 lbs) I'll take up the couch to 5k programme, or invent a version of it for myself, to keep on trying to push myself.

So even though we all know the first losses can be attributed to a shift in water content as you put it, I don't think that should levy any weight gain against me in the coming weeks... fingers crossed anyway.

(I could also be very wrong in everything I've said above! I'm no expert!)

Week three down.
Weighed in this week and I've lost 4.5lbs. I was aiming for 3-4 so I'll happily accept that!


I've been keeping up the walking, the minimalist diet and crossfit classes. So far no urges to go mad on Haribo, and have been managing to stay enthusiastic about the classes and walking.

This week I'll keep to the walking, with the aim of getting another 3lbs off for next week. If I can do that, I will then introduct the Couch-2-5K programme into my walks and hopefully that will start to put the ould cardiovascular system under a bit more pressure.

I picked up a new pair of Saucony Ride 8's on StartFitness, (I have had the Saucony Ride runners before, and they've always been like clouds on my feet, so although I haven't worn these yet, I'm hoping the same remains to be the case). I'll break these in this week with walking and they will become my C25K footwear of choice I hope.

I'm gonna try to start cycling a bit more this week too. Last week and a half has been a blister-fest on the feet, so gonna give them a little break to heal up by cycling before i start into C25K.


Either way, I'm hopeful that next week I'll be 3lbs lighter. I think that's realistic and keeps me on target (although I'm ahead of target at the moment, I am fully anticipating a few slip ups along the way).

1st 5lbs down, 1st 10.5lbs to go!

Week four over, and so concludes the first month of my 'balls to the wall' efforts.

Weighed in this week, with a loss of 6.5lbs. Meaning a total loss this month, of 1st 11.5lbs (25.5lbs total).

So I'm fully expecting the struggle will commence soon. My diet has been good, very low in calorie intake. My exercising has been very good, with a little dabbling into C25k/jogging, but maintaining my lengthy walks and keeping my crossfit efforts intact.

My home gym efforts have involved squatting and deadlifting, with bench pressing, bicep curling and lat pulldown-ing in there too.


I fully contribute the big losses to the exercise efforts, moreso than anything else, I think. I wore pants today that I bought about a week or two before starting this thread. They're baggy on me now, and wearable, they were painted onto me when I first got them.

So I'm the happiest of happy campers at the moment. So far no over-the-top urges for sweets or such, and although i have had the few small cravings here and there, I've managed to maintain the ould willpower.


History has learned me that 16st seems to where the drop off is for me. That's where my weight losses tend to come to a screeching halt, and the road to reaching 16st in the past has been a fairly miserable existence. As it stands, I'm 17st 4lbs, meaning I've 18lbs to go, but I've no doubt in my mind the next 18lbs will be the toughest.

I'm gonna aim for 3lbs off for next week, as I think that should be achievable.


How I feel about this month :P :

adam88

Fair play. Know the struggle. Went from 23st to 16st over 9 mts. Fell off the bandwagon and creeped back up to 18.5 last time I checked. Purposefully avoiding the scales. Morning time I'm getting back on the saddle. Only thing keeping motivating me this time is the feeling of being able to go into a shop and not having to buy the largest size available.

All the best over the next few weeks

Week five down.

This week I'm down a mere 1lb, but a loss is a loss.

As my diet and exercise has still been pretty good, I think this is possibly the sign that things are gonna start hitting a wall soon and I'm gonna be going through the process of burning away actual fat on my body, which of course, will be a slower, more difficult stage.

I still have 8 weeks to go, and I have 17lbs to lose, meaning a loss of 2lbs per week is still an acceptable approach.

The good thing here, is that I'm not deflated or upset at all. I was fully expecting this would happen so I'm not crying into a tin of biscuits, haha.

On the contrary, I'm actually quite excited. Although I'm sure I'll be frustrated and annoyed with the slower losses, I think this is when I'll actually start to see some changes to the general shape of my body, provided I keep occupied with the exercising and don't let it fall apart.

I'm still determined for 16st by the 4th of October, so I'll see how it goes. I'm hopeful for 3lbs next week (which is what I was aiming for this week) to put me back 'ahead' of myself.

Tell me how

Fair play for the commitment.

Ah, I've been here a few times in the past. But always end up back where I started.

So I'm hoping this is my final effort. Goal is to get to 16st, and try to hold my weight there for a little while. Try to up my eating slightly and pull back on the exercise a small bit. Pretty much my aim is to try to get my body to 'normalise' at 16st, instead of naturally creeping to 19st the whole time.

I reckon if I can yo-yo my weight up and down in small increments, but always stay very close to 16st (I'm obviously not expecting to stay dead on 16st week-on-week), then I might have more luck with a second bout of a 'balls to the wall' effort to bring my weight down to about 14st after that.


But for the moment it's just keeping my head in the game for the next 8 weeks and then working from there. This fitness log (although it's not really a fitness log at all, and more a progress report) is good at keeping me on track, I think though. Knowing I'm gonna post here each week, even though ye're a bunch of strangers, makes me feel a tad more accountable.

daithi7

When you get to the maintenance level, or before!!!, try to take up swimming and swim aerobically for 25+minutes, 3 times or more a week ideally.

If you do that and adhere to a healthy diet & lifestyle otherwise (e g cut out white bread, less sugar (no sodas, sweets or biscuits, fruit instead, small portion sizes, only 1 hour on the coach at a time, e etc, etc, etc) you cannot help to stay healthy and fit and strong and yes.... Even slim (though this should be a side effect not a goal inho). GOOD LUCK '!!!

What makes you suggest swimming, so specifically, out of curiousity?

I would like to get into it a bit, don't get me wrong but I thought that jogging/running would be the aerobic calorie burning king of exercises?

Alf Veedersane

Anything you enjoy doing since you'll do it regularly. Could be swimming, could be running, could be line dancing

daithi7

[Deleted User] wrote: »

What makes you suggest swimming, so specifically, out of curiousity?

I would like to get into it a bit, don't get me wrong but I thought that jogging/running would be the aerobic calorie burning king of exercises?

Yes, any aerobic exercise is good e.g. jogging, cycling, aerobics, and even vigorous walking but some exercise disciplines are inherently better than others for aerobic effects , calorie burning efficiency, muscle toning and injury prevention.

My preference is for swimming cos in only 25mins of a focused, goal based swimming session you get a full on aerobic work out, with a bit of strength work built in. It works out every muscle in your body (e.g. legs, arms, neck, shoulder, core but also muscles in your face, etc), and because it is low impact it tends to have inherent injury prevention built in.

Running is also very good for sure but it's a little less all over body a work out, the constant pounding is not that good for the joints and it tends to lead to more lactic acid build up than swimming which is very counter productive. But both are excellent.

Regardless of which aerobic exercise though is most crucial to do one or several of them at least 3 times a week for ideally 25+minutes à time (that's 25 minutes swimming btw, not total session time (e.g. tog off l, warm u up, stretch, swim, warm down, tog on) which is likely to be circa 1hour for a 25 to 30 min swim.

So aerobic exercise every other day for ~30mins and ahere to a good balanced low sugar, low saturated fat diet and lifestyle otherwise and you'll be fit and fast, and yes even stay slim too, which is a Grand bonus!! Good luck,.

Week Six done and dusted now.


Lost a pretty surprising 8.5lbs this week! Thrilled with that.


This week the exercise efforts have been pulled back a lot. I wasn't at all as active as I'd hoped. However, I also had 3 days were I ate only a toasted ham and cheese sandwich each day. I do a bit of work now and then that has me out driving around the country, and constantly against the clock. The days fly, but I'm so busy I genuinely don't have time to eat, and I'm so busy, that I don't notice, either.

So in the evening times I'd get home and stick on a toasted ham and cheese sandwich. So I'd say the lack of food has my weight down so much this week. I predict next week, now that I'll be back to normal eating, I'll be lucky to lose a pound.

That said, as ever, I'll aim to get 3lbs off.

So if I'm right in this off the top of my head.. I have 7 weeks to go, and I have 8.5lbs to lose to be where I want to be.. So really my goal now is to drop the 8.5lbs as quick as I can, and then try and hold my weight at 16st if I can for a while, in an effort to try to normalize myself at that weight and not balloon back out again. If I can lose the 8.5 in the next 4 weeks, then try to hold my weight steady for 6 weeks, and then try again, I should be okay I reckon.


Either way, I'm a happy camper!

Tell me how

8.5lbs loss in one week?
I have never heard of that happening and it being genuine. Not suggesting you're lying but if you did it by starving (just one sandwich a day) then I wouldn't think that that is advisable.
I'm no expert mind.

Tell me how

Tell me how wrote: »

8.5lbs loss in one week?
I have never heard of that happening and it being genuine. Not suggesting you're lying but if you did it by starving (just one sandwich a day) then I wouldn't think that that is advisable.
I'm no expert mind.

I wouldn't be too bothered lying to be honest. There'd be no point, really, but you have to keep in mind that it's not really that much weight, when you take into consideration that I am fairly overweight to begin with.


If someone lost 8.5lbs in a week, and they weighed 11stone, I'd be either stunned or call them a lying bastard, but at my weight, of 17st (or 16st 8.5lb as i am now) I think it's a lot to lose, but nothing that would be completely unexpected at all.


But that said, as you pointed out, the lack of eating would of course have had an impact. That and the very low loss the week before (1lb). That general combo would lead me to think the 8.5lbs is reasonable as it's really only 4lbs per week really, when you average it out, and that works out at about 2% of my overall weight each week.


So although it sounds a lot, when you look at it, it's not too unrealistic.


That said, I'm a pessimist, and can rarely take the joy in things haha. I fully expect another tiny loss this week (although i am out jogging again so hoping that'll keep me right).

johnnyryan89

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I wouldn't be too bothered lying to be honest. There'd be no point, really, but you have to keep in mind that it's not really that much weight, when you take into consideration that I am fairly overweight to begin with.


If someone lost 8.5lbs in a week, and they weighed 11stone, I'd be either stunned or call them a lying bastard, but at my weight, of 17st (or 16st 8.5lb as i am now) I think it's a lot to lose, but nothing that would be completely unexpected at all.


But that said, as you pointed out, the lack of eating would of course have had an impact. That and the very low loss the week before (1lb). That general combo would lead me to think the 8.5lbs is reasonable as it's really only 4lbs per week really, when you average it out, and that works out at about 2% of my overall weight each week.


So although it sounds a lot, when you look at it, it's not too unrealistic.


That said, I'm a pessimist, and can rarely take the joy in things haha. I fully expect another tiny loss this week (although i am out jogging again so hoping that'll keep me right).

Fair play to you man and reading your posts I'm gonna start getting into training again myself.

In the last six years myself have gone from 16stone down to 13 stone(lost that three Stone from basically only getting up early and going to work) Went back up to 16.5 stone to drop back to 14 and in the last three years have probably went back up to 18 something. So gonna take a bit of inspiration from your thread and get back to training for a wedding in two years time.

That's a fairly serious long-term mentality you have there. 3 months to me seemed like a time period that was never gonna end (and im only halfway through it). Don't think i'd have motivation for something so far away to be honest.

I applaud your efforts. Fair play!

Week seven finito.

Weighed in this week with another 2.5lbs off. Bringing me to 16st 6lbs.

This week I was out walking/jogging once. Did about 50mins jogging (five 10 minute jogs, broken by 5 mins of walking each time). After that I've not been out since, but my exercise came this week in the form of knocking a concrete shed, and today, throwing the bricks in a skip.

Tomorrow I've a 2nd skip to fill so that'll be great fun too (:rolleyes:). After that I hope to get back out jogging again and such, but I may have upcoming work so I'm not 100% sure what way I'll stand.

Considering my exercise has been lacking, I'm quite pleased with 2.5lbs off and I am eager to shift the next 6lbs.

I'm a member of a slimming world group (don't follow the plan, but do attend and weigh in as I find it makes me accountable) and I was 19st 4lbs joining there, so 2lbs off will get me 3st off with them. So that'll help me stay a bit motivated too, I hope.

So would like to knock another 3lbs off for next week, but I'd be happy with 2lbs off.

Fingers crossed, anyway. haha

JJayoo

When the scales says you have lost 5+ pounds what do you think is making up that number?

How do you mean, Jjayoo?

JJayoo

[Deleted User] wrote: »

How do you mean, Jjayoo?

Well if your losing 5+pounds per week do you think it's all fat?

Your weight loss has been very dramatic and although very impressive I just can't see how it's in anyways healthy or sustainable even in the short term.

Ah I see what you mean.

It's probably not entirely sustainable and I'm expecting a sudden weight gain week or two to appear. but I reckon if I can just keep myself in and around the 16st mark for a few weeks I should be doing okay.

It's when the winter comes in, and going out for long walks isn't as appealing, and jogging seems like a huge chore etc. that the weight will start to creep back on.


My weight loss is dramatic, but only because I'm being very, very committed to it at the moment. I'm dedicating a lot of my efforts to it. I haven't just decided to only eat 5 biscuits in the evening instead of 10, etc. i've completely eliminated any junk food and I'm active for at least an hour or two each day (always to sweating).

What I need, to be honest, is to try and build up a little social circle whilst I'm being active. I reckon if i can make some friends that are into fitness in general, it will help keep me interested in it more so.


As i said in the thread before, I've dropped 2.5st in the past, about 3 times, and I've always ended up back where I started. So I'm hoping this will be the time that I stick with it. It's easy at the moment, as I'm still very motivated, but a few weeks after the holiday, etc. that's when it'll be tough going as i'll have to do something to keep me occupied or something to work towards.


In Drogheda on friday the 9th (I think) there's a 5k run/walk for Sosad. I've signed up with a friend that jogs with me. I've never, ever signed up for anything like it before, as I'm not a great people person (anxiety issues) but I'm hoping that if i get through that, I will (fingers crossed) sign up for loads more of these in future and keep building on it to try and keep myself occupied and give me a reason to keep up the jogging.

To answer your initial question, I don't know what the 5+lbs losses consist of. I am fitting into clothes that are smaller. I am also keeping up with physical activity to try and retain as much muscle as I can. So although I'd love to say it's entirely fat that's being burned off, I'd be hesitant to make such a statement, but I would be genuinely curious.

I am a very fat person though (in that I have a lot of fat on my body). I don't have the big belly you'd normally associate with overweight people, but I do have big thighs/ass though (I also do have a big belly, but you know the way some people have a belly that's massive, on an otherwise thin frame.. that's not me).

Pulsating Star

Very inspiring thread KKV, that's some commitment , fair play!

Just starting out myself and like you mentioned i think i need to get some good habits in place before the winter kicks in .

Subscribed.

Week 8 done and I edge closer again to my goal.

Dropped a very decent 4.5lbs this week, meaning I'm 16st 1.5lbs - Only 1.5lbs away from being where I wanted to be. Which effectively means that next week, all going well, I should be at my target of 16st.


However, this weekend I have a 'night out' consisting of a meal and drinking. Two things that I don't really think will wash too well with the diet and exercise regime I've been trying to maintain.

So... I have to keep my head somewhat conservative. I'm hoping that if I eat minimal when out, and take it handy on food the other days of week, and also cram in as much exercise as I can, I might not be too badly off as a result. I know I'll more than likely drink to excess (As I very, very, very rarely go out, and it takes a loooot of drink to get me drunk... although maybe it won't take as much now that I'm a tad lighter..).

The annoying thing is that I'm so close to the 16st! So next week, my aim is not to lose weight, but to just try and stay the same. I hope I won't gain anything and I'll try to hold onto sensible decisions wherever possible.



Still though... 8 weeks to drop 3st! (I started at 19st 1.5lb, and now I'm at 16st 1.5lb). I'll take that!


I've noticed that my pant sizes have decreased (to the extent that I've had to buy new, smaller pants.. twice..). I can get away with an XL in Dunnes 'xlr8' pants (my preferred pants for jogging/walking), whereas 8 weeks ago I couldn't fit into the XXL ones (had to wear XXL Lonsdale pants from sports world, as they seem to be larger than most sizes for some reason).

So that's a sign that, even though my losses might not consist entirely of fat, I am definitely smaller.


Personally, looking in the mirror... I still feel I look pretty much the same. But I suppose I see myself every day so perhaps I just can't see it properly. Who knows. But I have been told I look different by a handful of people, so I'll take that as an acknowledgement that there is some difference, however minor.

So.. next week I'd like to have 1.5 off, but I won't hold my breath. I think it could be the first 'gain' week, but we'll see how it goes.

Eyes down for a full house!

Week nine 'es mucho finito'... As the italians say.


Down a very respectable 2.5lbs. A reasonable and realistic amount to get off (approx 1.5% of my bodyweight I think.. generally considered a healthy loss). So now I'm 15st 13lbs.


Well this week was an intresting one!


I was out on Saturday night. Which is a general no-no for me. Not because I'm an alcoholic or anything, but because I've got some fairly deep-rooted social anxiety issues that I don't enjoy. Having a 'night out' takes a lot for me, and I think I've had a grand total of about 10 of them in the last decade (I'm 28). None of which were up to much.


But I think my confidence (or lack thereof) and such, are very much tied to my weight. Silly as it may sound. I genuinely enjoyed the saturday night out this week. Made some new friends out of it too. All was well in the world.

A side effect, of the weight loss, I'm assuming, is that I also managed to get 'happy-drunk' fairly swiftly. Rather than having to ply myself with shorts and shots, a couple of pints did it. The result - possibly the cheapest night out I've ever had! This weight loss is starting to make financial sense. :P


So anyway. I drank a lot, i ate some chipper food afterwards, didn't do a whole lot of exercise this week in general.

However, I have been out working/driving a lot and as a result, I haven't really been eating as much. So my calorie intake, although it would have spiked over the weekend, never got too high.

This week ahead I've a SOSAD 5k jog that I signed up for (Again, another social outing that i normally would never, ever, even consider). I want to jog that whole 5k, which I don't think I can, so that'll push me a bit. That, and i got a new shed, which will be a new home gym. That'll be getting plastered this week and although I'm hiring a plasterer, I'll be giving him a hand, so I should, if nothing else, be kept a little physically active (on my feet) for a few days. Can't wait to get that shed done and gym gear into it!




So the upshot is that.... I've reached/beat my goal. Earlier than anticipated. Still a month to go, and I'm already there.


How I feel now: